I am so frustrated... Please help me

[Gsowa]

So, beginning in January, I decided that I was going to begin my weight loss journey. I began as a 5'4 female weighing 140 pounds. In the middle of March, I weighed 127 pounds, just two pounds away from my goal weight. I was delighted. To lose those last two pounds, I took up running until today, April 1st. I ran about 3 miles per day.  I weighed myself today and was horrified to see that I weighed 133 pounds. I have not changed my eating very much, however, I added some additional calories to help fuel my body for the run. Please help me to understand where I went wrong. Thank you. 

[LionLady · Accepted solution]

First. Are you weighing every day at the same time - for most its first thing in the am, after peeing, and naked. If you weight every day, you'll see daily fluctuations up and down, sometimes a whole pound or more. Weighing daily (rather than weekly) helps to desensitize us to those bounces. Weigh daily.

Second. Are you tracking your food intake? Actual quantity measurements. (Don't add calories for exercise if you want to lose, but consider adding a multivitamin.) If you had something salty yesterday, your body will retain water and cause a temporary weight increase. For me, red meat - such as a big ole prime rib - for dinner will ALWAYS cause a big jump in the scale the next day. 

Are you drinking plenty of water? Stay hydrated. The recommended is to drink half your body weight (in ounces) per day. So for you that would be around 60-64 ounces of water. Use something that you know the capacity of and drink every few hours. Strive for at least half that if you aren't already, then increase.

Last. Muscle weighs more than fat. If you've been training, you may have lost fat, but are gaining muscle. And if you are at too high a calorie deficit, your body won't drop weight. 

[Gsowa]

Thank you so much for your response. I had been weighing myself every day (multiple times) but I felt that I was becoming obsessed with the scale. Yesterday, I did consume a lot of salty foods, so that does help explain the jump. I consume a lot of tea throughout the day, unsweetened herbal or black tea, so I believe that I am hydrated. Lastly, I am typically consuming about 1000 calories a day (which is an increase from 700-800 before). I really appreciate all your feedback. 

[LionLady]

Are you drinking plain water? Not tea, tea is a diuretic. That is it, draws water out of your system. If you don't like the taste (or lack of taste) of water, then add some cucumber slices, lemon, mint leaves, etc. to give it some flavor. Track how much you are drinking. You may be surprised to discover you aren't drinking as much as you think. Fill a half gallon bottle and work at drinking all of it every day.

Weigh yourself ONCE each morning. I get that its easy to become obsessed. Part of the learning curve is gaining self-discipline. 

Also, increase your calories to at least 1200-1400. You can't be getting enough basic nutrition with just 1000 calories. You are starving your system. Add in fresh veggies, and fruit - they satisfy without adding empty calories. Bell pepper strips, cucumbers, apples, grapes. 

If you're in the US, then I'm guessing that you are trapped at home without a lot of interaction. It sucks. Hang in there! I've found the MyFitnessPal app is great for logging and tracking food intake, and exercise. It will link to FitBit if I'm not mistaken. 

[WendyB]

Muscle does not weigh more than Fat. Its a myth

 "In simple terms, a pound of muscle weighs the same as a pound of fat," Heimburger tells WebMD. "The difference is that muscle is much more dense than body fat.

Please read this

[LionLady]

@WendyB Yeah. You're right, factually, but we tend to think of muscle as being "heavier" because its more dense.

[JaronK]

A pound of anything weighs the same as a pound of anything else.  When we say muscle is heavier, we mean a given volume of muscle is heavier than a given volume of fat, because it's denser.

As to the weight gain, there's a few things that can temporarily shift it.  These include periods (you retain water then), salt (more salt = more water retention), and hydration level (more water = more weight).  As such, don't weigh yourself multiple times per day.  Weigh yourself at the same time, in the morning first thing, every day... once.  And don't worry about spikes.  That's just you eating some salt or something.  It's the long term pattern that matters.  If you are running and eating an appropriate number of calories, the weight will go down eventually.

[Baltoscott]

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@WendyB wrote:

Muscle does not weigh more than Fat. Its a myth

 "In simple terms, a pound of muscle weighs the same as a pound of fat," Heimburger tells WebMD. "The difference is that muscle is much more dense than body fat.

Please read this

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When I was a kid my granddad once asked me whether a pound of lead or a pound of feathers was heavier. I fell for it, and said "lead." For years after, any time I would say something that was obviously wrong he would ask me, "so, you still think a pound of lead is heavier, too?" 🙂

[FoCoHiker]

I would invest in a smart scale that provides information where you're holding your weight (body weight, body fat%, muscle mass%, water weight% and BMI).  Over time you'll see how your body is shifting its weight and you focus appropriate workouts where you need them.

[DelFrancia]

Actually, green tea has caffeine and caffeine is more of a dehydrator. You need to be consuming ALOT of Potassium (some doctors talk about the ideal being 4,700 PER DAY! That volume is hard to get just from food). Potassium is what actually makes you sweat and helps keep the water weight down along with a lot of other things. If you are drinking a lot of water (which is good) you deplete minerals from your system. Potassium is the main mineral the Human body operates on. So I would suggest you add an "Emergen C" or just plain old potassium vitamins before you do your run and more later. Everything your "Best Answer" said is totally true and perfect advice also.